Closure units for containers

ABSTRACT

A double-valved closure for a container, particularly a beer container, comprises a cup assembly for insertion into the opening of the container and includes a tubular component of plastics material having legs between which a reaction ring can be sprung during assembly of the closure. A downtube is received in the ring and extends from the lower end of the cup assembly into the container and surrounds one of the valves and a spring biasing the valve closed. The valve is carried by the top of the downtube and the reaction ring provides an abutment for the spring for this other valve and which biases the valve closed. The legs are held together after insertion of the reaction ring by means of an outer ring engaging external grooves in the legs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to closure units for containers. Such closureunits are particularly suitable for use with beer containers but haveother applications.

2. Description of the Prior Art

More particularly, the invention is concerned with a closure unit,hereinafter referred to as being of the kind specified, for an openingin a container and comprising a cup assembly having first and secondopposite ends and adapted to be received in the opening, a down-tubehaving an end portion within the assembly and projecting from said firstend of the assembly, the down-tube providing an inner passage while anouter passage is provided between said end portion and the assembly, andinner and outer concentric valve members associated with the inner andouter passages respectively and spring biased to close said passages,the valve members being engageable from said second end of the assemblyby a suitable head, e.g. a racking or dispensing head, whereby the valvemembers can be moved to open the passages thus permitting the connectionof the passages to separate external conduits.

The object of the present invention is to provide a closure unitconstruction suitable for manufacture, at least partially in plasticsmaterial.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention we provide a closure unit of the kindspecified wherein the cup assembly comprises (1) a component of plasticsmaterial having a collar adjacent to said second end of the assembly anda plurality of legs projecting from the collar to said first end of theassembly and (2) a reaction ring received within the legs adjacent tosaid first end and surrounding the down-tube, the ring forming areaction member for the spring means acting on the outer valve memberand having abutment means which are forced by the spring means intoengagement with oppositely facing abutment means on the legs, thecomponent being such that the legs are sufficiently resilient to besprung apart to allow the ring to be inserted into position between thelegs from said first end during assembly of the closure unit, and onouter ring embracing the legs adjacent to said first end to prevent thelegs springing apart in the assembled closure.

The major component of the cup assembly is thus made of plasticsmaterial and allows the reaction ring to be sprung into position duringassembly of the closure unit and the legs are held against springingapart in the assembled closure by means of the outer ring.

Preferably, the abutment means comprises a flange on the reaction ringand inwardly extending lugs on the legs. Preferably the reaction ring ismade of plastics material and is of generally L-shape in cross section.

Preferably, each of the legs is provided with an external grooveadjacent said first end of the assembly to receive the outer ring. Thefree end portions of the legs may also be chamfered to provide a leadfor the outer ring to allow it to be sprung into position. Preferablythe outer ring is of substantially D-shape in cross section anddimensioned so that when it is received in said groove its outer surfaceis flush with the outer surfaces of the legs.

Preferably, the outer valve member is carried by, and received within,the down-tube. Preferably the down-tube is made of plastics material andhas an internal shoulder near its upper end to provide a reactionabutment for the spring means acting on the inner valve member. Saidspring means is preferably engaged by a spider which in turn engages theshoulder in the down-tube. Both the spider and the inner and outer valvemembers are preferably formed from plastics material. Preferably, thebore of the down-tube diverges downwardly from the shoulder, thisprovides a convenient construction of down-tube which may easily bemanufactured as will be described below.

Preferably, the collar provides an inturned lip which forms a valve seatfor the outer valve member and the latter also provides a valve seat forthe inner valve member.

In a preferred construction, the collar is surrounded by a metal sleevewhich is externally screw-threaded so as to enable the closure unit tobe threadedly engaged in an internally threaded neck on the container.In an alternative construction the collar itself may be externallythreaded so as to engage directly in the neck.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in detail by way of example withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross section through a closure unit embodying theinvention showing it fitted in the neck of a container; and

FIG. 2 is a cross section through the main plastics component of the cupassembly in combination with a metal sleeve.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, the closure unit comprises a cup assemblyindicated generally at 10. The cup assembly comprises a component 11which is formed from plastics material and will be described in detailin relation to FIG. 2. The component comprises a collar 12 and fourlegs, two of which are indicated at 13, extending downwardly from thecollar to the first or lower end of the assembly. The legs areequiangularly spaced about the vertical axis 14 of the component andthere is a space 15 between each adjacent pair of legs. At the lower endof each leg there is provided an inturned lug 16 which has inclinedupper and lower surfaces 17 and 18 respectively. Formed in the externalsurface of each leg, adjacent the free end thereof, is a groove 19 whichis of substantially D-section. The external surface of the free end ofeach leg is chamfered as indicated at 20.

The collar 12 has a flange 21 with a lower surface 22 and an inturnedlip 23 having a conical surface 24 which forms a valve seat for theouter valve member as will be described. A circular recess 25 is formedin the upper surface of the collar and this merges with a downwardlyconverging portion 26. Above the flange 21 there is a peripheral recess27 and above that is a downwardly diverging external surface 28.

The upper part of the component 11 at the second or upper end of theassembly is surrounded by a metal sleeve indicated generally at 29. Thesleeve has an upper thicker portion 30 which is provided with anexternal screw-thread 31. The sleeve has, below the portion 30, a thinweb 32 and then a rib 33 which is a good fit within the recess 27. Thesleeve 29 is assembled to the component 11 by engaging the upper end ofthe collar within the rib 33 and then forcing the sleeve downwardly thusdeflecting the rib 33 outwardly as it moves over the surface 28. Thisoutward movement is permitted by the flexibility of the web 32 and thenthe rib 33 springs into position in the recess 27.

The component 11 is made of plastics material which is sufficientlyresilient to enable the legs 13 to spring inwardly and outwardly as willbe described below. The sleeve 29 is of metal and may be made either ofbrass or stainless steel.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the unit includes a down-tube 34 which is madeof plastics material. The down-tube has a bore, the lower part 35 ofwhich diverges from an upwardly directed shoulder 36 to the lower end ofthe downtube. The upper part of the bore 37 of the downtube above theshoulder 36 is of substantially constant cross section and iscylindrical. At its upper end, the downtube has an outwardly directedflange 38.

An outer valve member 39 is received within the upper end of thedown-tube and has a skirt 40, which is received within the bore part 37,and a flange 41 which overlies the flange 38. The flange 41 has bondedthereto a rubber ring 42 of generally L-section and which has achamfered surface 43. The skirt 40 is sealed within the down-tube borepart 37 by means of a sealing ring 44 which is received in an externalgroove in the valve member. A spring 45 engages at its upper end underthe flange 38 of the down-tube and at its lower end it engages areaction ring indicated generally at 46. The reaction ring is ofgenerally inverted L-section and has a generally cylindrical portion 47which is received within the lugs 16 and has a flange 48 which engagesthe upper inclined surfaces 17 of the lugs 16. The reaction ring 46 thusprovides a reaction abutment for the lower end of the spring 45 whichurges the outer valve member 39 upwardly so that its rubber ring 42 isin engagement with the conical surface 24 on the component 11. The spacebetween the down-tube 34 and the legs 13 provides an outer passage 50.

An inner passage 51 is provided within the bore portion 37 of thedown-tube and within this inner passage is mounted an inner valve memberindicated generally at 52. The inner valve member has a shank 53 and ahead 54 which has moulded thereto a rubber ring 55 of generally L-shapehaving an upper chamfered surface. This rubber ring engages a generallyconical valve seat 56 on the outer valve member 39 and is forced intoengagement with the valve seat by means of a spring 57 which closelysurrounds the shank 53 and engages at its lower end with a spiderindicated generally at 58 and which has three legs 59 which rest on theshoulder 36 in the down-tube. The legs 59 are equiangularly spacedabout, and are secured to, a central collar 59a which receives the shank53 with clearance and the lower end of the spring 57 engages the upperend of the collar 59a.

The inner valve member 52 and the outer valve member 39 are preferablymade of plastics material as is the spider 58.

A metal ring 60, preferably of stainless steel, is received in thegrooves 19 in the legs 13 and prevents them from springing apart. Itwill be noted that the ring 60 is of substantial D-cross section so thatits outer surface is generally flush with the outer surfaces of theupper parts of the legs 13.

The closure is received within the neck of a container e.g. a beercontainer, the neck being shown in dotted lines at 61. The neck has aninternal screw thread 62 with which the screw thread 31 on the sleeve 29engages. A rubber setting ring 63 is engaged between the flange 21 onthe component 11 and an inturned flange 64 on the neck. It will be seenthat the sleeve 29 is screwed downwardly into the neck, the ring 63 willbe compressed and in fact the flange 21 of the component will becompressed between the rib 33 on the sleeve and the ring 63.

The operation of the valve is conventional, thus a racking or dispensinghead can be received in the recess 25 and parts thereof will engage theouter valve member 39 and inner valve member 51 and will move themdownwardly against their springs 45 and 57 thus to open the outer andinner passages 50 and 51 and allow these to be connected to separatepassages in the head body. Gas will be supplied from the head and willflow passed the valve member 39 into the outer passage 50 and betweenthe legs 13 and into the container. The gas forces the liquid e.g. beer,up the downtube 34, between the legs of the spider and past the innervalve member 51 into a passage in the head.

The closure unit is assembled as follows. Firstly, the sleeve 29 isassembled onto the component 11 in the manner described above. Thespider 58 is then inserted into the down-tube so that it rests on theshoulder 36 and the inner and outer valve members 52 and 39 are insertedinto the inner end of the down-tube together with the spring 57. Thedown-tube is then inserted into the component 11 from the lower endthereof, the assembly is preferably carried out with the componentinverted but the description will be made referring to the fitting inthe position shown in FIG. 1. The spring 45 is then placed in positionafter which the reaction ring 46 is placed in position. The legs 13 aresufficiently resilient to allow them to spring apart to allow the flange48 on the reaction ring to pass the lugs 16 at the free ends of thelegs. A tool is then slipped over the down-tube and compresses thespring 45 and moves the reaction ring 46 upwardly so that its skirt 47is clear of the lugs 16. The free end portions of the legs are thensprung towards one another and the ring 60 is sprung into position inthe grooves 19. The spring 45 is then allowed to expand pushing thereaction ring to the position shown in FIG. 1 to provide a reaction forthe spring 45.

As described, the whole of the fitting is made of plastics material withthe exception of the springs 45 and 57 the sleeve 29 and ring 60. It is,however, within the scope of the invention to make any of the parts ofmetal except for the component 11 although it is preferred that asubstantially completely plastic valve is used. The down-tube of thedesign shown can conveniently be moulded from plastics material byhaving two cores which are withdrawable from opposite ends. Thus therewill be a first cylindrical core which will form the bore part 37 and asecond tapered bore which will form the bore part 35 and which can bewithdrawn from the lower end of the down-tube due to the taper.

It will be seen that the valve is easily made and assembled and mayeasily be disassembled for cleaning purposes by inserting a tool overthe down-tube and pushing the reaction ring 46 upwardly to compress thespring and then springing the legs together and removing the ring 60whereupon the reaction ring can be removed and all the other partsremoved in the reverse order to that described above.

Preferably the valves 39 and 52 are made of nylon, for exampleglass-reinforced, high temperature nylon such as that sold by ImperialChemical Industries Limited under the Trade Mark Maranyl. Preferably theother plastic parts, i.e. the component 11, the down-tube 34 and thereaction ring 46 are made of an acetal resin. Suitable resins are thehomopolymer known as Delrin sold by Dupont or the copolymer sold byAmcel Limited and known as Chemetal.

I claim:
 1. A closure unit for an opening in a container comprising acup assembly having first and second opposite ends and adapted to bereceived in the opening, a downtube having an end portion within theassembly and projecting from said first end of the assembly, thedown-tube providing an inner passage while an outer passage is providedbetween said end portion and the assembly, and inner and outerconcentric valve members associated with the inner and outer passagesrespectively and spring biased to close said passages, wherein the cupassembly comprises (1) a component of plastics material having a collaradjacent to said second end of the assembly and a plurality of legsprojecting from the collar to said first end of the assembly and (2) areaction ring received within the legs adjacent to said first end andsurrounding the downtube, the ring forming a reaction member for thespring means acting on the outer valve member and having abutment meanswhich are forced by the spring means into engagement with oppositelyfacing abutment means on the legs, the component being such that thelegs are sufficiently resilient to be sprung apart to allow the ring tobe inserted into position between the legs from said first end duringassembly of the closure unit, and an outer ring embracing the legsadjacent to said first end to prevent the legs springing apart in theassembled closure.
 2. A unit according to claim 1 wherein the abutmentmeans comprises a flange on the reaction ring and inwardly extendinglugs on the legs.
 3. A unit according to claim 1 wherein the reactionring is made of plastics material and is of generally L-shape in crosssection.
 4. A unit according to claim 1 wherein each of the legs isprovided with an external groove adjacent said first end of the assemblyto receive the outer ring.
 5. A unit according to claim 4 wherein thefree end portions of the legs are chamfered to provide a lead for theouter ring during assembly of the unit.
 6. A unit according to claim 4wherein the outer ring is of substantially D-shape in cross section andis dimensioned so that when it is received in said grooves its outersurface is flush with the outer surfaces of the legs.
 7. A unitaccording to claim 1 wherein the outer valve member is carried by, andreceived within, the downtube.
 8. A unit according to claim 1 whereinthe downtube is made of plastics material and has an internal shouldernear its upper end to provide a reaction abutment for the spring meansacting on the inner valve member.
 9. A unit according to claim 8 whereinthe spring means for the inner valve member is engaged by a spider whichin turn engages said shoulder.
 10. A unit according to claim 8 whereinthe bore of the down-tube diverges downwardly from the shoulder.
 11. Aunit according to claim 1 wherein the collar provides an inturned lipwhich forms a valve seat for the outer valve member and wherein thelatter also provides a valve seat for the inner valve member.
 12. A unitaccording to claim 1 wherein the collar is surrounded by a metal sleevewhich is secured to the collar and which is externally screwthreaded.13. A unit according to claim 1 wherein the collar is externallyscrewthreaded for engagement in an opening in a container.
 14. Acombination of a unit according to claim 1 with a container and in whichthe unit is received in an opening in a container.